| Abstract: | This review addresses theory and research on the role of self understanding, language, theory of mind, attachment security, and parental style in children’s autobiographical memory development. Social‐cognitive factors appear to interact with parental style in producing children’s first verbal memories. Emotional factors, such as attachment security, may also prove to be critical for the socialization of life histories. Further longitudinal studies will be necessary to examine individual differences in the growth of this complex and multiply determined skill. |
